--- title: Justin Bieber's Tattoo Artist Explains Meaning of Face Ink description: Justin Bieber took to Instagram to share his brand new ink — a matching face tattoo of a cross that he got with best friend Joe Termini. canonical: https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-09T15:58:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:14.758Z og:title: This Is The Meaning Behind Justin Bieber's New Face Tattoo og:description: As explained by his tattoo artist, JonBoy og:url: https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d451732531a85ee/69889269cd1bbac6487009d5/justin-bieber-face-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Justin Bieber In Concert - 2016 Purpose World Tour - Los Angeles, CA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is The Meaning Behind Justin Bieber's New Face Tattoo twitter:description: As explained by his tattoo artist, JonBoy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d451732531a85ee/69889269cd1bbac6487009d5/justin-bieber-face-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justin Bieber Gets a Face Tattoo In The Ultimate Act of Millennial Friendship > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 9, 2016 3:58 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber performs at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic) LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber performs at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 9, 2016 3:58 PM UTC Forget friendship bracelets — apparently, face [tattoos](http://time.com/money/3974956/tattoo-millennials-hiring/) are the hip adornment for [millennial](http://time.com/247/millennials-the-me-me-me-generation/) besties to share. Justin Bieber, [music world enfant terrible](http://time.com/4281839/justin-bieber-dreadlocks/) and body ink enthusiast, took to Instagram on Sunday to show off a brand new face tattoo that he allegedly got with BFF Joe Termini. The matching ink for Bieber and Termini are small cross tats placed just under their eyes. According to the tattoo artist responsible, Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena at West 4 Tattoo, the ink represents Bieber’s faith. “Justin came in last night and decided on a small cross near the corner of his eye,” Valena told [Us Magazine](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/justin-biebers-face-tattoo-artist-explains-its-meaning-w205646). “It represents his journey in finding purpose with God.” Valena (who counts Bieber besties [Kylie Jenner](http://time.com/4081618/most-influential-teens-2015/) and Hailey Baldwin as clients) posted an Instagram with both Bieber and Termini at West 4 Tattoo on Sunday. The photo prominently features Bieber’s tattoo and also reveals that Valena has the same tattoo, although Termini’s ink is not visible in the picture. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/"},"headline":"Justin Bieber Gets a Face Tattoo In The Ultimate Act of Millennial Friendship","datePublished":"2016-05-09T15:58:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:14.758Z","description":"Bieber's tattoo artist explains the meaning behind the singer's new ink","url":"https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Justin Bieber","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d451732531a85ee/69889269cd1bbac6487009d5/justin-bieber-face-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d451732531a85ee/69889269cd1bbac6487009d5/justin-bieber-face-tattoo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Justin Bieber In Concert - 2016 Purpose World Tour - Los Angeles, CA","caption":"Justin Bieber In Concert - 2016 Purpose World Tour - Los Angeles, CA","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4322795/justin-bieber-face-tattoo-reason/","name":"Justin Bieber Gets a Face Tattoo In The Ultimate Act of Millennial Friendship"}}]}] ```